A Trail of Tears
by Kitty Nekkyo
Summary: Naruto is banished by the council while Tsunade is unconscious in the hospital. The pairing has been decided as GaaraNaruto so I hope you enjoy it!
1. Prologue

Tears stream down the young boy's face as he runs through the untamed plant life. Thorns and twigs scratch and mar his skin. Mud sprays the bottom of his pants with each step he runs. Rain pours from the dreary midnight sky. His breathing is uneven from hours of running without rest.

Blindly he runs through the nights to escape his fears, doubts, and everything he ever cared about. The hatred in the eyes of the villagers pushes him to run longer and farther than he ever thought he could. That hatred scares him but nothing could outdo what had just happened.

(_Flash Back)_

"_Naruto Uzamaki, We of the council have come to a decision. Due to the lack of control you have over the Kyuubi we have come to the decision that you shall be banished from Konoha." The elder councilman announced._

_Naruto's heart seemed to stop when he heard those words. Fear chilled his veins as he stared with a look of shock at the council._

"_How could you do that? He successfully brought Sasuke back and has on numerous accounts, saved the village of one of its ninjas." Sakura shouted in outrage._

_If nothing more than moral support Sakura, Hinata, Neji, Lee, Kakashi, Iruka, and even Sasuke and Gaara had come to attend the trail._

"_Naruto has done nothing to harm the village. Sure he played a few pranks but they never harmed anybody" the normally shy Hinata cried out._

"_I have to agree. The dobe risked everything to bring me back and he's saved many lives as well" Sasuke added. Even he was upset. Naruto, whether the dobe knew or not, was his closest friend._

"_He's been my student for a while now. He's done nothing but strive to protect this village" Kakashi argued._

"_THAT'S ENOUGH!" the elder councilman shouted, silencing them all. He then looked down at the Kyuubi's container who was staring down at the floor with his bangs blocking his face from view. "Naruto Uzamaki, do you have anything to say in your defense?" he asked._

_Naruto slowly lifted his gaze from the floor and stared directly at the council. They were shocked when they saw the pure loyalty and determination in his eyes. "Konoha is my home. If leaving it is what's best for the village then I will leave. But no matter where I go I will always strive to protect my home even if I have to do it from a distance." He said resolutely. His friends looked at him amazed as he walked out of the building. He stopped when he came up to Kakashi and smiled solemnly. "Tell baa-san that I'll miss her and to get better" he said before speeding off to his house._

_(End Flash Back)_

After he had gathered any necessities he might need, Naruto had headed out the gates of Konoha. Once at a far enough distance the dams broke loose and tears streamed down his face. "I'll miss you all" he had whispered before taking off in a sprint through the forest, a trail of tears the only hints that he had been there.

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Kitty: Well I hope you guys enjoyed the prologue. The next chapter will be up tommorow and if you have any suggestions for improvement do tell me please I love helpful tips! Oh and it won't be this angsty the entire time OK oh and I'm taking votes on pairings. Here are the choices!

Sasuke/Naruto

Neji/Naruto

Itachi/Naruto

Shikamaru/Naruto

Gaara/Naruto

well there are you choices and if you can't tell I LOVE SHONEN-AI soo obviously this story will be boy/boy! Well hope you enjoyed it so far I'm actually up to the second chapter but I'm not posting that until I'm done writing the third! See Ya Later!


	2. Chapter 1

Kitty: OO (stares at reviews) OMG there's so many (faints)

Naruto: (walks in and sees Kitty on floor) Well she's out so I'll tell you what you need to know! As it turns out the votes tallied up to have **Gaara/Naruto as the winner**! We're sorry if you didn't vote for that pairing but hope that you enjoy the story regardless of the pairing! If you have a suggestion for other pairings that don't involve Gaara or Naruto then please tell us. Most likely there will also be a _Kakashi/Iruka_ pairing cause they are way to cute together!

Kitty: (wakes up) soo many reviews...I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Also I'm sorry to the person who doesn't enjoy boy/boy relationships but I'd like to thankyou again for reviewing regardless of that detail!

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It has been three years since the fateful night when Naruto was banished from Konoha. At first the villagers had been happy and celebrated when they found out they were finally free from the demon. The Rookie 9 however was solemn and withdrawn. Ever since the blond haired ninja had left it had seemed something very important was missing from their lives. Eventually even the villagers started to miss the presences of the hyperactive ninja and regretted what they had done. Once Tsunade had gotten out of the hospital after recovering from her wounds she found out what the council had done without her authority and disbanded them and formed a new one.

Tsunade sat at her desk looking solemnly outside her window. _It's been three years since he left and it seems that the Rookie 9 have lost their luster. Sure their the best batch of ninja graduates but they've lost a bit of their spark since Naruto left_ she thought as she watched lightening dance across the sky. As she gazed out of her window a huge flash of lightening lit up the window. When the flash faded, a lone figure, cloaked in black, stood inside the window looking at her.

Tsunade jumped out of her seat and got into a defensive position. "Who are you and what do you want?" she demanded, spooked at how easily the cloaked man snuck up on her.

The man chuckled. "I'm here to see you of course" he said in a smooth, youthful voice.

Tsunade looked terribly confused and it showed clearly on her face. The confusion was replaced by suspicion in a matter of seconds though. "Why do you want to see me and who are you?" she demanded again.

The man chuckled again then pulled off his cloak revealing shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes. "Well baa-san, you are the one who has been searching for me for the last three years" he said with amusement.

Tsunade's jaw dropped to the floor and she stared openly at the man. _It's Naruto! He's finally back _her mind cheered. Once the initial shock wore off she looked him over. The blond had let his hair grow out and his eyes had a more mature look to them. Naruto had a slender, sort of feminine body shape and his whisker marks seemed to have refined themselves over the years. His face had lost all of it's baby fat leaving him with an elegant face. In laymen's terms the boy was hot!

"You look great brat" she commented with a smirk.

"Thank you but I do have a purpose here. I've learned that you have been searching for me. Why?" he asked curiously.

"Everyone misses you. Your friends miss you and I miss you. The village lost it's spark when you left. What the council did was beyond their jurisdiction. They did it without my consent and they were fired for that. I want to reinstate you as a ninja of Konoha." She told him truthfully. "Even the villagers were mad at the council for what they did. So do you accept my offer or not squirt?" she asked seriously.

"Of course I will." Was the quite obvious answer given.

"Good, because you were Chuunin you can take the Jounin exam. It's tomorrow and I'll sign you up if you choose to take it" she informed him.

Naruto nodded thoughtfully. "I'll take the exam and during the last fight I'll reveal myself but until then I'll wear my fox mask and cloak. I'll wear my forehead protector on my arm so it's visible." He said.

"Great now about your team. You'll be teamed up with Sasuke and Sakura like before since they are still missing a team member. There is only one team test, its so you can learn to work with a team. It is a survival test much like the chuunin exam and is till the week long limit but you have to collect four scrolls instead of only two. Bet there at 5am sharp. You obviously already know about your father the Yondaime since Jiraiya told you so here are the keys to his estate. See ya tomorrow brat." Tsunade said playfully then tossed Naruto his keys.

Naruto bowed respectfully before turning and leaving, a smile present on his face. He put on his cloak and put up his hood, shadowing his face. In the blink of an eye he was gone.

"It's good to have you back Otouto" Tsunade whispered after him, a smile on her face for the first time in three years.

xxxxxYondaime's Estatexxxxx

Skidding to a stop, Naruto glanced around in repressed awe at the estate that was now his. He walked up to the gate to find a seal burned into the wood. Quickly he bit his thumb and smeared some of his blood onto the seal. It glowed crimson before fading away, the door opening soon after. He walked into the estate, reveling in the homey feel it exuded. Silently he slipped into one of the bedrooms and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

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Kitty: Thankyou for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! If you find any errors please inform me and if you have any suggestions as to where the story should go from here or how to improve any chapters than PLEASE TELL ME! I love getting constructive critism cause it helps me improve! Please review cause reviews are wonderful things! 


	3. Chapter 2

Kitty: OK well I'm finally updating. Sorry it took me so long but I got sick then I spent a while making up school work then I got sick again! God it sucked but be happy I'm finally updating and the next update is coming soon as well. I already have the next three or four chapters planned out in a general sense so they shouldn't take long it all depends on school work.

Naruto: YEAH! Stupid homework it's SO STUPID!

Kitty: I KNOW I mean come on isn't going to school and sitting through boring lectures enough. Obviously not because they send MORE work home with us.

Naruto: Yeah but at least there are nice teachers like Iruka-sensei

Kitty: YEAH! And Mr. Connolly and Mrs. Snow! I love them, they rules. Well anyway just remember I love reviews and I accept all constructive criticism but I ignore flames so don't bother anyway. So now onto to the story! **OH WAIT!!** Just a reminder that the pairing for Naruto will be **Gaara/Naruto** cause that is the pairing that won. I hope you still enjoy the story even if you didn't vote for that! NOW onto the story !

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"Alright people these are the Jounin exams. The first part of this exam will be a written segment during which you will answer 20 questions in the span of an hour. It will test your practical knowledge on jutsus, field work, protocol, and what is the best action to take in certain situations. The second part of the exam is the only team oriented segment. It is a survival test in which you will work with your other two teammates to retrieve a total of 4 scrolls. You will be required to hand over 1 water, 1 fire, 1 earth, and 1 heavens scroll. You have five days to collect them but only on the fourth and fifth days may you hand them in and only on those two days. Any earlier and you will be turned away. This exercise will not only test you survival skills but you teamwork and ability to protect the scrolls as well." Ibiki, the examiner, announced. "The final part of the test will be a tournament between the shinobi and konoichi who made it that far. Unlike the Chuunin exams, there will be requirements for the battles you must meet. During each battle you must use a combination of genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu. You must also use one jutsu of your own creation. Now if you only have one or two original jutsus that's ok as well. Just make sure you use it at least once in each battle. This new requirement is to test your knowledge of jutsus and your creativity in a sense as well." He added with a stoic face. "Good now that the lecture is over you may begin the written portion of the exam" he ordered.

Immediately the scratching of pens and pencils could be heard. Just like in the Chuunin exams the test takers were allowed to cheat as long as they weren't caught. To accomplish this, many creative methods were used. Shino was using his bugs to get answers, Neji was using his Byakyugan, and Sasuke was using his Sharingan to get the answers. Naruto and Shikamaru, however, were calm and didn't need to cheat they just answered the questions themselves while also preventing others from seeing theirs.

"Stop!" Ibiki shouted as the hour ended. The sudden shout caused many to jump in their seats. "Now that you're done this part of the test you may take tonight to get together with your teammates. At noon tomorrow you will meet at the Forest of Death to begin the second part of the exam. You're dismissed" he stated, leaving the ninja to their own devices.

"So Sasuke-kun, who is our teammate?" Sakura asked, looking around. Soon she spotted a cloaked figure wearing a fox mask and a Konoha headband wrapped around his bicep. She eeped when he looked up and had the distinct feeling he was smirking at her in amusement.

Naruto smirked when he heard Sakura eep and slowly started to make his way over to his two teammates. When he was a mere three feet from them he stopped and observed the changes they had undergone in his absence.

Sakura had kept her hair short and was wearing a dark green version of her old outfit with a Chuunin vest over top of it. She was bout five inches shorter than he was and she had a more matured look. It also seemed her obsession with Sasuke had faded because when she looked at the Uchiha he saw a look of gentle admiration like sisterly love instead of the crazed look of lust she had before when she was his fangirl.

Sasuke had changed as well. He wore the standard Chuunin vest over a dark blue sleeveless shirt, with the Uchiha symbol on the back, with a pair of cakky pants that had numerous pockets on it. His hair was the same style as before but his bangs had grown out and now framed his face. Orochimaru's cursed mark was only visible when his bangs moved but it was still there none the less. Also, his normally stoic façade seemed to have softened and his eyes were no longer filled with an unsettling rage but instead a peaceful yet determined look.

"So who are you?" Sasuke asked bluntly. He was a bit suspicious of this person because of the mask. Those who hid their identity usually were hiding something about themselves as well and it wasn't always good things they were trying to hid.

"My name shall not be revealed until the tournament part of the exam but you have no need to be suspicious of me. Tsunade-sama knows my identity and personally placed me on your team" Naruto told them calmly. He inwardly pouted when he noticed he still had to look up to Sasuke, it turned out the other boy was still taller than him by a few inches.

"Then what should we call you" Sakura asked curiously.

"I am known as Kitsune because of my mask. I hide my identity as a safety precaution, a lot of powerful people are after me" he told them. He got a thoughtful look on his face then smirked. "…and to mess with people's minds. That's always fun!" he added playfully.

Sakura visibly sweat-dropped at the comment while Sasuke mentally face-faulted. The playfulness of the Kitsune's voice also reminded them of somebody but they could not say exactly who he reminded them of. "Well it's getting late, we should all go to bed and get a good night's sleep" Sakura suggested. "See ya guys in the morning" she said before disappearing up the stairs that lead to the girls' rooms.

Sasuke turned to the masked ninja and gave him a penetrating gaze. "You remind me of someone" he stated suddenly.

Naruto smirked under his mask at obvious curiosity in the Uchiha's gaze. "Do I now? That's very interesting. Perhaps after the exams I should meet this person but for now I'll be off to my room. See you in the morning" he stated then left to his room.

Sasuke stared where Kitsune once was before snapping out of his daze. His other two teammates had the right idea. It was nearing midnight. Apparently their chat had lasted longer than he first expected. He took one last glance around the room before heading to his room to get some sleep.

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Kitty: Forgive me for the boring chapter but next chapter shall have some action in it! YAY ACTION! Also the next four chapters will each tell you about 1 day of the exams so next chapter will be called Day One of the Survival Test! YAY!!

Naruto: Thank you for reading and please review! NOW FOR RAMEN! (runs to get ramen)

Kitty: WAIT FOR ME! ORDER ME A BOWL OF CHICKEN FLAVOR!! (runs after him)


	4. Chapter 3

Kitty: OMG I'm so sorry for updating but the internet in the neighborhood where I live is acting funky so I had to wait until I went to my mom's house in order to update.

Naruto: she's just making up excuses

Kitty: AM NOT YOU BAKA!

Naruto: NOT A BAKA!

Yugi: (walks in) SHUT-UP I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!

Naruto & Kitty: (cower in fear)

Kitty: Never piss Yugi off. He scares me. I always knew he was the type that's quiet and shy normally but when he's tired BAM it's like a total personality shift. It's scary.

Naruto: (nods) Well wutever. Onto the story!

Kitty: Yup and every once in a while I'll renew the disclaimer like I am now. I do not own Naruto or YuGiOh for that matter. I wish I did cause then Naruto would have fox ears and a tail and he'd be mine forever!

Naruto: which I'm not thank Kami!

Kitty: (pouts) meanie. Just get on with the story. **OH WAIT!!!! READ THIS!! PLEASE!! **I would like to recommend a youtube music video. The link will be on my profile and it's a Naruto music video to the song Rise by Origa. This music video just rules. The last 10-15 seconds not so much but the rest is just phenomenal I really suggest you at least take a look. It might help get your creative juices flowing….not like that you HENTAIS!

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"Alright brats, Ibiki already explained the rules of this part of the exam so I'm not going to say them again. The scrolls I just gave you are the ones you'll start out with so you need to collect at least of one each type. Only once 2 of the 5 days are up will we start accepting teams at the tower. This rule is to reinforce your survival skills and so you know how to defend a scroll as well incase you end up traveling and having to stay in the woods for a night." Anko announced loudly as she gave a stern look to all the participants. "Once all 5 days are up, only the teams who handed in one of each scroll will be permitted to advance to the tournament phase of the exam. I don't need to tell you this but I will anyway, there is _always_ a chance of death just like on real missions. You should be used to the risk now anyway. So good luck and you may BEGIN!" she shouted before stepping to the side, allowing the participants to start the challenge. 

(A/N: I will be referring to Naruto as Kitsune from now on until his identity is revealed or while he is talking with Tsunade.)

Sasuke and Sakura decided to stay along the river side so started walking towards it. This way they would have a constant supply of water and they could catch, kill, and eat any wildlife that came to drink from the flowing crystal clear waters. They could also use the water to help cover their tracks if needed. Kitsune, of course, just shrugged and followed. He knew it would take a while for them to fully trust him but had already accepted that and just did his best to help.

When they arrived at a suitable location to camp, Sasuke started to scan the area with his Sharingan for any traps or nearby teams. When he found none he signaled to Sakura, who then started to set up intricate traps to protect them during the night. Kitsune was off in the woods collecting food and fire wood, well at least that's what they thought he was doing. It was true that he was collecting supplies but he was also putting up a barrier that would make their chakra signatures undetectable by most people. Only users of the Byakyugon or one with the power of a Sannin could detect them now. Of course, neither Sakura nor Sasuke knew of this.

"So what's the plan?" Kitsune asked as he sat down and started to light the fire.

"Well we can either get the scrolls now, get it over with, or we can wait a couple of days and do it last minute." Sakura listed as she prepared the sleeping area.

"We should do it now then spend the rest of the two days protecting them until we get to the tower." Sasuke stated.

"That sounds good" Kitsune agreed. Suddenly three bunshins of Kitune appeared and handed the original three scrolls. "OK so now we have one of each scroll. Would you like me to obtain an extra of each?" he asked calmly. He mentally sweat-dropped when he saw Sakura's jaw hanging open and the slight widening of Sasuke's eyes. "What?"

"When did you create bunshins? How did they last up against groups of chuunins? And why couldn't I sense you chakra when you created them?" Sakura demanded in a flurry of questions.

"Hmm let's see, I created them at the start of this part of the exam, I didn't use hand seals so you couldn't see me do it either. I can mask my chakra to be undetectable and my bunshins are my own creation. They're a more advanced form of the Kage Bunshin. Instead of being just shadow clones, I combined all of the elemental cloning techniques to create a sort of ultimate bunshin" Kitsune explained to them.

"So you really are Kitsune huh? Only the famous assassin would be able to do that. So why exactly are you taking the Jounin exams?" Sasuke asked. He couldn't help but be curious. Was it possible for a person with the strength of one of the Sannin to not be a Jounin yet?

"Hmm I don't thing I'm quite ready to tell you that yet, but trust me when I say you will have all your questions answered soon enough" he told them mysteriously. "Of course, when that happens you'll start pestering me with even more questions" he added with a slight face-fault.

"Whatever" Sasuke replied then returned back to fixing up camp.

xxxxxTime Skip: to Second Dayxxxxx

"OK so we now have doubles of each scroll and apparently nobody terribly strong is here to ruin the test like in the Chuunin test a few years ago." Kitsune stated. Of course fate loves screwing people over and just as he finished that sentence a snake, at least 100 ft tall, crashed through the trees and lunged at them. "Why do they love proving me wrong?" he growled out as he dodged the attack.

The snake reared its head and growled. "Stay still human and you'll die quickly instead of painfully slow."

"Where's your master Manda?" Kitsune demanded. He got into a defensive stance and looked up into a nearby tree. "I know you're there. Show yourself!" he shouted.

An inhuman chuckle was heard followed by an almost inaudible thud. Orochimaru looked at them, an amused expression on his face. "So you truly are Kitsune. Who would have thought the legendary assassin with the supposed power of a sannin was still a chuunin." He stated with a smirk.

"Orochimaru I could care less what you think. Leave us now or face my wrath" Kitsune growled out.

Orochimaru sneered at them. "I've come to collect what's mine" he growled out before lunging towards Sasuke.

The youngest Uchiha fell into a defensive stance but was brought to his knees by a jolt of pain from his cursed mark. He growled out in pain and clutched the mark. His coal-black eyes widened when he saw a blur of black intercept Orochimaru with impossible speed. He blinked and suddenly both Kitsune and Orochimaru were gone.

Kitsune landed a kick in Orochimaru's stomach, sending the snake sannin flying into a tree. He nimbly dodged a flurry of kunai that were thrown at him and raised his sword to block Orochimaru's blade. He put more pressure onto the blade and pushed the sannin away from him. In a blur of hand motions, he sent out a blast of chakra and slammed it into Orochimaru.

The snake sannin fell to his knees and panted for breath. He looked up and smirked. He preformed hand seals forming a clone of mud and went back to attacking Kitsune.

A scream suddenly echoed through the clearing, distracting Kitsune enough to allow Orochimaru to bite down on his neck. The snake sannin was smirking when he drew back and licked his lips. "What will you do now?" he asked smugly.

The foxy assassin looked at him and smirked. His right hand rose and covered the mark that had started to appear. A red glow started to emit from his hand. A sizzling was heard but stopped as soon as the red glow disappeared. He slowly lifted his hand revealing an unblemished patch of skin. The mark was completely gone.

"What! How did you remove the mark" Orochimaru demanded fiercely.

"Your chakra is pitiful, so mine over powered it easily." Kitsune explained with mirth. Suddenly his aura took on a different feel. "Now leave" he hissed out. Intent on researching the phenomenon, Orochimaru left in a whirl of leaves.

When Kitsune turned around he saw Sakura and Sasuke staring at him in open shock. "Uchiha" he called out.

Sasuke looked up at him and snapped out of his daze. "What?" he asked in confusion.

"Would you like that cursed mark removed?" Kitsune asked calmly.

Sasuke was stumped and it showed too. His face had a look of confusion on it while his eyes were wide open. Despite his obvious state of shcok, he managed to give a shaky nod.

"Good. Now because I'm going to need all my concentration to remove the seal, I won't be able to heal you as I do the removal" the assassin stated then looked at Sakura. "Sakura, I want you to put your hands on top of mine while mine are on top of his mark. When you start to see red chakra coming from my hands, start to push your healing chakra onto where the mark is to heal any burns or pains he might feel." He ordered.

Neither Sasuke nor Sakura even thought of not listening to his orders. As soon as both Kitsune's and Sakura's were in position, the process started. Kitsune's hands started glowing a vivid red while Sakura's glowed a gentle green. Sasuke twitched when the pain started but it was soon relieved by Sakura's healing. The process was slow and a tiny bit painful on Sasuke's part but finally after ten minutes the two removed their hands revealing unmarred skin.

"Done but you'll be tired now. Also you'll need to train retrain your chakra control. This goes for both of you. Because my chakra mixed with both of yours, your chakra reserves will have increased a lot. You'll have a lot more stamina when doing jutsus." Kitsune told them with a dead serious tone. Then he turned to Sakura. "Even more so for you because you specialize in healing jutsus. Healing jutsus take a lot more control than any other jutsu and if you loose control you could hurt yourself or the one your healing." He warned. They both nodded and started training their control under the guard of Kitsune.

xxxxxTowerxxxxx

"Good so it's been narrowed down to 7 teams. The preliminary rounds start tomorrow and the match ups will also be announced tomorrow at 8am. So use this time to rest up cause you know you'll need it." The examiner stated before leaving the participants to do what they pleased.

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Kitty: NOOOO THE WORLD IS GOING TO END!! (runs around in circles with arms flapping) 

Naruto: Why what's happening?

Kitty: I just watched episode 186 and Shino starts laughing! LAUGHING! I mean come on this guy is not supposed to laugh. (starts to cry) I'm to young to die

Naruto:(in shock)

Kitty: So before the world comes to an end...please review and also tell me what pairings you want in my story that do not include Gaara, Naruto, Kakashi, or Iruka!


	5. Chapter 4

Kitty: (is passed out on ground)

Naruto: (walks in and stares at Kitty) what now? (shakes Kitty awake)

Kitty: wuh?

Naruto: What made you faint?

Kitty: OoO right it was actually two things. The first, being that I looked at the statistics of this fic. I HAVE OVER 53 PEOPLE WHO PUT MY STORY ON THEIR ALERTS! And it's on over 11 C2s and twenty something favorites. I didn't think that would ever happen.

Naruto: That's understandable but what's the second thing?

Kitty: (shivers) I read chapter 2 of my story again and I said the word youthful. It reminded me of Gai and Lee.

Naruto: Oh well that's understandable too.

Gai: (runs in) WAS SOMEBODY TALKING ABOUT YOUTH?

Lee: (runs in) YOSH! WAS SOMEBODY TALKING ABOUT THE POWER OF YOUTH?

Kitty: (shaking in fear)

Gai: THE POWER OF YOUTH WILL FILL YOUR HEARTS WITH YOUTH!

Lee: GAI-SENSEI!

Gai: LEE!

Lee: GAI-SENSEI!

Gai & Lee: (hug with background of sunset and tears streaming down their eyes)

Kitty: (is reading the Princess Princess manga she borrowed from her friend while giggling and blushing)

Naruto: (has spasms and runs away twitching)

Lee: So Kitty how is your youthful story coming?

Kitty: . (still giggling while reading story)

Lee: Are you listening to me?!?

Kitty: (looks up from book with bored expression on) did you say something?

Gai: YOU HAVE PICKED UP ON MY ULTIMATE RIVAL'S COOLNESS (aka Kakashi)

Kitty: O.o noooooooo I have not! Kakashi reads porn while I read shonen-ai. GET IT STRAIGHT!!!!

Gai & Lee: (cringe in fear)

Kitty: Now on with the story so I can finish reading the part where Tooru gets kissed by Yuujirou! (goes back to reading and giggles at the kiss scene .)

The stadium was full the brim with people that were waiting to watch the fight. The area was filled with the sound of chattering and laughter and the audience waited for the fights to start. Soon enough the jounin in charge of calling the fights walked into the ring and called the fighters into the center in front of him. Twenty fighters stood in front of him.

"Due to an abnormally large amount of drop-outs there will not only be seventeen fighters in the preliminary rounds. The fight line ups will be as followed and in this order:

Sasuke Uchiha vs. Sakura Haruna

Onkyou Shuuha vs. Nami Kaiyou

Uta Kangen vs. Shikamaru Nara

Neji Hyuuga vs. Kankuro no Subaku

Rock Lee vs. Kitsune

Haku vs. Temari no Subaku

Ino Yamanaka vs Yuge Hyouga

Teten vs. Chouji"

When Sasuke and Sakura heard Haku's name they spun to look at him and saw that it was indeed the Haku they had fought all those years again. They eyed him wearily and decided to question him after the preliminaries.

"Now let's get started. First match: Sasuke Uchiha vs. Sakura Haruna. You two stay down here, the rest of you can go find a place in the stands to watch." The Jounin announced.

SASUKE VS. SAKURA

Sakura and Sasuke faced off. Sakura clenched her teeth in in annoyance and anxiety. She just had to fight Sasuke! Sasuke knew all of her techniques, while Sasuke unpredictably performed a seemingly endless supply of new techniques.

"Begin!" The Jounin yelled.

Immediately Sakura charged chakra into her fist. Smirking, she slammed her fist down into the ground, shattering the earth beneath them in a display of tremendous strength. The breaking of the ground forced Sasuke to jump into the air to dodge the attack.

Sasuke returned Sakura's smirk with his own. He performed a series of hand seals before putting the tips of his index finger and thumb together to create a circle. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" he yelled as he blew flames at Sakura, forcing her to evade the deadly heat. He landed balancing on the edge of the massive hole.

Sakura picked up a ten ton shard of rock and hurled it at Sasuke, Sasuke was forced to flip over the rock and Sakura took that moment to slam her foot into Sasuke's stomach sending him crashing into the wall. However, before Sasuke reached the wall he turned both feet towards the wall and pushed off of it, using that momentum, he flew back at Sakura and landed a mighty drop kick to her left shoulder, dislocating her arm. Sakura stumbled. Sasuke then hit her full force in the knee, knocking her to the ground. He leaned of her. "Had enough?"

"Hardly" she said turning into a puff of smoke.

"Shit, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Sasuke cursed. Sasuke spun around, barely avoiding Sakura's chakra enhanced fist. Using his amazing speed he rained down punches and kicks to Sakura, who bocked the majority. 'Better end this!' Sasuke thought. Quickly he pressed a nerve on Sakura's neck, narrowly missing getting hit in the stomach by her elbow. Sakura fell to the ground unconscious and bruised.

"The winner is Sasuke Uchiha!" The jounin announced then proceeded to revive Sakura.

When she woke up she smiled at Sasuke then got a sly look on her face. "If I didn't know better, I would say you were going soft Sasuke" she taunted teasingly.

Sasuke just glared at her before walking off into the stands, where he sat next to Kitsune. They were both joined by Sakura after she was checked over by the medic ninjas.

----

As the next fight was announced, Haku walked over and bowed to Kitsune. "It's been a while hasn't it?" he said, looking at Sasuke and Sakura who were still in shock over him being alive.

"How exactly are you alive, Haku?" Sasuke asked.

"Well the attack I took for Zabuza didn't hit anything fatal so I was put into a death like state which lasted up until two years ago. It was two years ago when Kitsune sensed I was still alive and dug me up from my grave. It turns out that Zabuza was also alive as well. Miraculously our chakra preserved our lives while we were in the catatonic state but any longer and we would have really been dead. Kitsune healed us and pumped chakra into our minds which awakened us." Haku explained with a gentle smile tugging on his lips. "We later joined the ranks of Water Nin to repent for what we had done. I was never officially a ninja so I've had to make my way up through the ranks. I'm taking the jounin exam in hopes of advancing to the next level." He added cheerfully.

Sasuke and Sakura smiled at him before turning to look at Kitsune in confusion. Seeing the looks on their faces, Kitsune sighed before answering the unasked question. "I was wandering around in wave country before I came upon the graves. I sensed extremely low chakra levels there and dug them up. When I found out they were still alive, I immediately started to heal their wounds and once that was done I jump started their brains to wake them up" he explained.

The two nodded before turning back to Haku and asking how he had been since his awakening. After their brief interrogation, they all turned back to the fight which seemed to be starting any time now.

----

UTA KANGEN VS. SHIKAMARU NARA

"Troublesome" Shikamaru muttered as he jumped down onto the arena floor.

Uta cracked his knuckles in annoyance. "Damn ingrained idiots" Uta muttered.

"Begin!" The jounin yelled.

Uta rushed Shikamaru, throwing a kunai at Shikamaru, the kunai immediately broke apart and sent chakra strings at Shikamaru ready to bind him. "Idiot, you'll never be able to defeat me, I'm a weapons and chakra string master."

Shikamaru smiled. "Is that all?" then his hands flew through hand seals for Shadow sewing and tendrils of shadows seized the kunai and crushed it.

"Oh shit" muttered Uta before more shadow tendrils shot out at him weaving around him. Uta tried to evade them, but suddenly he found himself trapped by a dome of tendrils.

Outside of the dome Shikamaru called out, "Forfeit or I'll crush you!" The dome began to dimish in size, the air got thinner.

"I give!" Uta yelled in desperation.

"Winner Shikamaru Nara!"

----

"Honestly he takes the easiest way out of everything" Sakura sighed, shaking her head.

----

NEJI HYUUGA VS. KANKURO NO SUBAKU

"Next match Neji Hyuuga vs. Kankuro no Subaku" the jounin announced. The two fighters made their way down to the field. Neji took up his clan's fighting stance while Kankuro readied his puppets.

"BEGIN!"

Both seemed to stare the other down, gauging their weaknesses and strengths. Neji took the initiative and charged at the puppet master. He almost made it to Kankuro when the puppet master had his puppet shoot poisonous projectiles at him. Neji evaded the majority of the projectiles, dancing around them with fluid grace. Unfortunately one of the projectiles lodged into his left thight causing him to stumble and his left leg to go numb. "Shit" the Hyuuga prodigy swore.

Kankuro's puppet then leapt at Neji, kunai ready. However using his memomentum, Neji guided the puppet higher into the air and over him. He slid under the puppet and planted his right leg into Kankuro's stomach, knocking him over. Firmly restraining Kankuro, Neji improvised as the numbing poison spread towards his left arm, he used his fingers and elbow of his right arm and his chin to perform the Hyuuga's gentle fist technique. He moved at a speed to rival Lee's. Neji then jumped off of Kankuro as he began to spasm.

"Winner Neji Hyuuga!"

Neji sat staring dully at Kankuro as the medics carried him away and Sakura came down from the stands to counteract Neji's poison. After Sakura's ministrations, Neji walked back into the stands and took his seat next to Hinata.

----

A hush fell over the crowd as their anticipation grew. The next match would be between Rock Lee and the legendary assassin, Kitsune. They couldn't wait to see what Kitsune could do because so far nobody has ever seen his techniques and lived. The only technique they knew about was the fox summoning contract he has. He's the only one to ever had a contract with the foxes because the sly creatures were very very picky about who they leant their power too. The only reason they knew about this technique was from the only person to ever survive his wrath. The person was a missing nin who had been interrogated as soon as he was found. Not only did he give up all the information he knew about the other missing nins but he also told them about the summoning technique Kitsune had. News of the technique spread quickly and soon everyone knew about it.

Even the Jounin in charge of the fights had a look of anticipation on his face as he called out their names and told them to come down to the field. When both fighters were down there, Lee bowed to Kitsune in respect. "It is a great honor to battle you Kitsune" he stated.

Kitsune chuckled and bowed as well. "Thank you. It is a great honor to battle you as well. I've heard about your excellent taijutsu and I can't wait to see it."

"BEGIN!"

Both fighters rushed at each other and soon were exchanging blows that were completely invisible to all except the more advanced chuunins, jounins, and kages. Lee punched at Kitsune, who blocked it with his arm and then countered with a kick towards Lee's legs. Lee jumped out of the way and rushed back in with a flying kick. Kitsune dodged, grabbed Lee's foot and swung him around and into a wall. The wall cracked upon impact but Lee just got right back up and started attacking again only to be thrown into a wall again. He suddenly got a serious look on his face and removed all of his weights with the single pull of a string. He did a few stretches before charging at Kitsune again, this time at a speed only seen by jounins and the hokage. He threw a punch at Kitsune's face only to hit air. He looked around for where the other ninja could possibly be but couldn't find him. Even the crowd had no idea where he was.

"Where did he go?" Sasuke murmured to himself. He looked up at Kakashi in hopes that he had the answer but he looked just as bewildered.

Down at the battle field a taunting voice echoed through out the stadium. "Tsk tsk. Apparently not even the Jounin can see me moving and this isn't even my top speed. Oh well guess I'll end it now!" Kitsune's voice echoed before a black blur suddenly seemed to flash next to Lee before disappearing. Kitsune appeared at the side of the ring looking at Lee.

"What!" Lee exclaimed before passing out on the spot. The medic nin immediately went over to him and started to check him over. They announced to be ok except for a bruise that appeared on his shoulder right where the nerve was that knocked you out if hit properly.

The crowd was in shock. They hadn't even seen the attack and it was so fast it took a second for the body to register the hit before the damage was even inflicted. They immediately started to cheer as Kitsune walked calmly back up to the stands.

Kitty: YAY FOR ME SUCKING AT FIGHT SCENES!!!!

Naruto: they were OK at least. I've read much worse

Kitty: Yup….hey wait a minute have you been going on my laptop again to read fanfictions? (growls)

Naruto: meep! (hides but is blushing) n-n-n-no……..

Kitty: O.o (looks confused) then what were you do-….oh wait (gets devious smirk) were you watching Princess Princess?

Naruto: O.O ummm

Kitty: hee hee hee SPREAD THE SHONEN-AI LOVE PEOPLE!!!!!!

Naruto: (sighs)

Kitty: **Take a Lookie Here Please!!!** I looked at my stats for this story and I have an ass-load of people that have me on alerts so if you could just please review. I know you just like to read the story and sometimes not review but I love reviews and if so many people like my story that much I want to improve it to make it even better. Actually I love criticism too because it helps me improve so if you do read my stories at least say something like "yeah I enjoyed the chapter but could you fix blah blah blah" or the classic "you should have so and so do this next chapter". I love opinions and I love ideas you people have for me ok. Also if someone would like to rewrite some of the fight scenes in this chapter and send them to me so I can put them in…that would be wonderful. Anyway please REVIEW!!


	6. Chapter 5

Kitty: Well I'm sorry this didn't come out earlier today but I had stuff to do and I got addicted to the two new Naruto games I got as well as the Destroy All Humans game ;;;

Naruto: In other words, she completely forgot about it due to her video game addiction

Kitty: Well anyway here you go and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas or whatever Holiday you celebrate

Naruto: Yup Happy Holidays minna-san!

* * *

Haku vs. Temari no Subaku 

Temari stood face to face with Haku. The boy twirled a senbon between his fingers, a thoughtful look on his face. Temari tensed as Haku put his hand in his pouch and she prepared her fan. Glancing at the Jounin referee he yelled "BEGIN!"

Immediately Temari sent a howling gust of wind at Haku only for Haku to turn into a solid ice statue. "Shit" Temari cursed as three ice mirrors surrounded her. She had heard of this technique from Sakura. She attempted to shatter the mirrors, but her gusts of wind did little if any damage.

A figure appeared in the mirrors, but instead of Haku, there were three ice dragons. The dragons roared and Haku appeared to be standing on one of the backs of the ice dragons as they shot out of the mirror and rose up into the sky. Snow began to float down from the sky and landed on the arena and Temari. Temari lifted her arm up to send an air shock wave at Haku only to realize to late that when the snow landed on her and her fan, it melted then immediately refroze. She had a thin layer of ice on her arm and her fan was frozen shut.

Haku poofed into mist and the real Haku materialized holding a senbon to Temari's throat. "Give up or I'll se them on you" Haku said, gesturing to the ferocious ice dragons who took that moment to roar and fly above Temari, their presence made it hard to breath the scorching cold air.

"I surrender"

"Winner: Haku!" The crowd clapped.

The dragons faded away into a mist. "A genjutsu?" Temari laughed. "I lost because of a genjutsu?"

"Not exactly. You see my blood limit allows me to manifest ice dragons, those weren't a genjutsu, but my presence on top of the dragon, Kio, was. If this method had not worked, I really would have set my dragons on you." Temari shuddered. "They just dissipate as if evaporating, so that's why they appear to be a genjutsu"

-------

When Haku returned to his seat, Kitsune turned to look at him. "Nice job Haku. I'm surprised you took the technique you saw me use and then tweaked it into a different that used your blood limit." He commented with an approving smile.

Haku nodded and thanked him for the compliment. Both fighters ignored the confused looks of the faces of the shinobi that sat around them

--------

Ino Yamanaka vs. Yuge Hyouga

"Your going down shorty" Ino boasted as she stretched her arms over her head.

"Your taunts won't work on me. Let's see if you have the skills to back up that boast of yours." Yuge remarked, sliding into a fighting stance that many recognized as a standard mizu stance.

"BEGIN"

Ino immediately charged into battle, throwing punch after punch only to have her opponent effortlessly dodge them. Growling in annoyance, Ino started to the handseals for her mind control jutsu.

Yuge's eyes widened when he recognized the seals. "Oh, no you don't." He said and started forming seals of his own. "Water Style: Chibi Geyser Jutsu!" he shouted. A strong torrent of water shot out of his hands and slammed into Ino. The sheer force of the blast sent Ino flying into the stadium wall, knocking her unconscious.

"Winner: Yuge Hyouga!"

---------------------------

Tenten vs. Chouji Akamichi

"Would Tenten and Chouji please come down and prepare to fight" the Jounin called out.

When both fighters were down in the arena, Tenten grinned and got into her fighting stance while Chouji just continued to munch on his chips.

"Begin"

Tenten started throwing kunais at Chouji who threw his own in retaliation. The clusters of kunai hit each other and cancelled one another out. Tenten then charged forward, drawing a medium length blade and started slashing at Chouji who had difficulty dodging the fast attacks. Eventually he found and opening in the attacks and used this time to form handseals. His body inflated like a balloon and he started ricocheting around the arena. Tenten jumped, dodged, and rolled to avoid the attacks. She took out a scroll and bit her finger, smearing the blood on the seal. The scroll exploded, leaving behind what looked to be a giant hammer or mallet. She got into a striking position and pumped chakra into the weapon. This time when Chouji rolled her way she slammed the mallet into him and sent him flying into the wall. When the dust from the impact cleared, and unconscious and deflated Chouji was lying on the ground with swirls in his eyes.

"Winner: Tenten!" The announcer called out. Cheering ensued. "This marks the end of the preliminary matches. Tomorrow the Semi-Finals will start so rest up and be prepared."

xxxxxlounge areaxxxxxxx

Kitsune leisurely walked into the lobby with his eyes closed while whistling a soothing tune. His eyes shot open when a familiar chakra signature appeared in front of him. A smile lit up on his face, though it wasn't seen behind his mask, you could see it in his eyes. "Gaara! How have you been?" he asked in a joyful tone. (A/N: and there you have it folks. Gaara's entrance)

Gaara was wearing his black Kazekage outfit and black sandals. His hair was a bit tamer and longer than it used to be but otherwise remained the same. The thing that really caught everyone's attentions was the small but happy smile on his face. "I'm fine thanks to you. I haven't seen you since you saved me from Akatsuki." Gaara replied,

"Come on. Let's go somewhere to catch up" Kitsune suggested then started walking to his room. Gaara followed quietly while sending glares at those who were staring at them.

xxxxKitsune's Roomxxxxx

(A/N: Now about the saving Gaara thing, we're saying that Naruto saved Gaara under the identity up Kitsune but Gaara knows Naruto is Kitsune. If you have any questions put them in a review)

"So when are you going to reveal your identity?" Gaara asked as he sat down in a chair at the table near the window in the room.

"Well I'm planning on doing it after the final match, but if I end up facing Sasuke or Neji they will most likely knock my mask off during the fight" Kitsune answered while pouring them both some tea. He put the tea pot down and pulled of his mask.

Gaara looked up from his tea, right into cerulean eyes. The pools of blue seemed to put him in a daze. He snapped out of his when Naruto waved a hand in front of his face. "Yo Gaara what ya thinking about?" he asked in an amused voice.

"You" was the reply.

Naruto sweatdropped at the sheer bluntness of the statement but also blushed when Gaara continued to stare. Gaara on the other hands was thoroughly enjoying the site of the blushing kitsune in front of him. The gentle pink hue on his cheeks made him look, dare he think it, cute. A grin made its way onto Gaara's face when the blush deepened.

"Gaara why are you staring at me?" Naruto whined but was also a bit surprised at the grin on Gaara's face. That had to be the biggest show of emotion he had ever seen on Gaara's face.

"Because your cute when you blush" Gaara pointed out.

The statement, of course, caused the blond to turn an even darker shade of red. "You think I'm cute?" Naruto asked, his eyebrows rose in surprise. At a nod from the red head, Naruto started sputtering nonsense, trying to figure out what was going on. "But you and cute and…" he ranted incoherently.

Gaara just stared at the blond while he stammered out words that made no sense at all what-so-ever. After a minute or two of stammering the blond still didn't seem like he would be stopping anytime soon so Gaara stopped him in the first way that came to mind. He kissed him.

The kiss sent Naruto into a state of shock. Gaara was kissing him. It was something he had never thought would happened but subconsciously had hoped for ever since they had gotten to know each other after the fight with Akatsuki. When Gaara ended the kiss Naruto looked at him in a daze. "Why?" was the only thing he could get out.

"Because somehow you've stolen my heart" (A/N: was that too cheesy?)

A radiant smile spread across Naruto's face. He suddenly glomped Gaara, catching the red head off guard, sending them both toppling to the ground. "You have mine too!" he exclaimed happily.

Gaara stood up then helped Naruto off the floor. "Well you have more fights tomorrow so it would be best if you got some sleep." Gaara said as he gestured towards the large bed.

"Sure but you need sleep too. Why don't we share a bed?" Naruto asked.

Gaara nodded which caused Naruto to break out into yet another smile. Both of them stripped down to their boxers and slid underneath the covers of the bed. Naruto instantly cuddled up to Gaara with his head lying on Gaara's chest. Gaara wrapped his arms around the blond and soon both were in dreamland.

* * *

Kitty: Now I am well aware that the cutesy fluffy moment at the end was probably not my best but if I think of something better I'll be replacing it but don't worry it won't affect the rest of the story.

Naruto: Also we would like to give credit to Makacatori (spelling?) for the wonderful rewrites of the fights in the last chapter as well as the fight between Haku and Temari in this chapter.

Kitty: Yes they were wonderful fight scenes. Unlike mine. Anyway, like I said, if anyone would like to donate rewrites of these fight scenes I will LOVE YOU FOR EVER and credit you at the end of the chapters. Also I hope you enjoyed the fluff because I know you all have been waiting for it .

Naruto: Also, we know our spelling is completely horrible so if you find any mistakes please tell us. Also we are looking for the Japanese translation of geyser. You know the the holes that spray out boiling hot water at random periods of time.

Kitty: Well now that that's all said and done, please review and hopefully the next chapter will be up soon….hopefully. I SWEAR I'LL TRY!!!


	7. Chapter 6

Kitty: (wearing protective armor) OK so you guys are probably ready to kill me for taking so long (gets rocks and other things thrown at her but they bounce off her armor) so I wore protective armor to defend myself HAHAHAHAHAHA (insert thunder in background and organ music) BWA HA HA HA HA

Naruto: (knocks her upside the head rendering her unconscious) Well you guys probably just want to read the story so I'll start it for you! Oh and before you read on, some of the fights will be short because hey there are always going to be those who are pathetic and weak and go down for the count within the first couple minutes. ENJOY!!

**REALLY IMPORTANT NOTE!!!:** Itachi NEVER killed off his clan in this fic. Kitty wuvs him too much to have him be evil…sure he'll probably have a sadistic sense of humor but hey so does Kitty and that's why she wuvs him so much. Anyway, everything should be explained in the chapter and if you still don't understand something then ask it in a review or PM.

* * *

Kitsune vs Onkyou Shuuha

"Begin!"

Wanting to prove himself against the legend opposing him, Onkyou charged into the battle head-on. As he ran at Kitsune, his hands flew through seals. "Piercing Screech!" he shouted before letting out a high pitch screech that forced everyone in the audience to cover their ears in pain.

Kitsune, however, was unaffected by the sound and was prepared when Onkyou engaged him in a battle of taijutsu.

Onkyou was a fast opponent but Kitsune had inhuman speed. Kitsune dodged all of Onkyou's attacks until the sound ninja until his opponent started showing fatigue. Taking advantage of the situation, Kitsune disappeared in a shower of leaves before reappearing directly behind Onkyou. Before the sound ninja could even turn around, Kitsune pressed a pressure point on his neck rendering him unconscious.

"Winner Kitsune!"

-----------

Haku vs Tenten

"Begin!"

Tenten charged at Haku, summoning a katana out of a scroll. She started swinging her blade at Haku with precise accurate slices. The ice user effortlessly dodged the attacks with fluid like movements. His hand formed seals and soon mirrors of ice melted into existence. Haku merged into one of his mirrors and soon all of the mirrors had his image in them.

"There's no escape" Haku stated monotonously.

Tenten frantically looked around for an escape route from the prison of mirrors. Faster than many could follow, Haku shot out of one of the mirrors and hit a pressure point on Tenten's neck with a senbon, forcing the weapon's mistress into unconsciousness.

"As the ice mirrors evaporated away the announcer proclaimed Haku the winner.

----------------------

"Begin!"

Sasuke charged at Shikamaru with an unseen speed and kicked at him. The shadow user, however, grabbed control of Sasuke's shadow, stopping the avenger in his place. Shikamaru started commanding Sasuke through his shadow. Sasuke's struggle against the shadow binds increased and with a cry he broke free of the binds and started throwing a barrage of shurikens at Shikamaru. "Katon: Phoenix Fire Justu!" he shouted as he did the hand seals and blew out a large blast of fire in the shape of the mythical bird that the justu was named after.

Shikamaru dodged the attack and ran over to the shadows formed by the walls of the stadium. He preformed another set of hand seals then literally melted into the shadows.

Trying to remain calm, Sasuke scanned the area with his eyes. When he found nothing visually he closed his eyes and focused on his other senses. He searched for Shikamaru's chakra signature. When Shikamaru emerged from the shadows around his feets, Sasuke leapt out of the way and performed another Katon jutsu. The attack hit the mark, knocking Shikamaru unconscious.

"Winner: Sasuke Uchiha!"

The medic nin went over to check on Shikamaru only to sweat drop. "He's fine. He just fell asleep." He announced in exasperation. Everyone in the stadium sweat dropped, even the more stoic people.

----------------------

Neji Hyuuga vs Yuge Hyouga

"Fight BEGIN!!""

Yuge charged in for the attack, preparing to use the Chibi Geyser justu again. Neji sighed and got into a defensive position. He easily blew Yuge away with his family's ultimate defense technique. While Yuge was standing up Neji trapped him within his divination. "Gentle fists!" he proceeded to lock up all of Yuge's chakra paths causing the boy to pass out.

"Winner: Neji Hyuuga"

--------

Due to the small amount of contestants, they decided to immediately start the semi finals. The first fight was Haku vs. Kitsune.

--------------

Haku vs Kitsune

When both fighters went down to the ring and stood facing each other. Suddenly Haku bowed to Kitsune who smiled and bowed in return.

"It is a great honor fighting you Kitsune-sensei" Haku stated politely then got into his traditional fighting stance.

Kitsune groaned in annoyance and got into his own fighting stance. "Haku I told you not to call me that. You're the same age as me."

"BEGIN!"

Haku instantly formed dozens of ice senbon and sent them flying at Kitsune. As Kitsune dodged and blocked the attack, Haku mentally formed a series of hand seals then moved his hands in an outward sweeping motion.

"Koori Arano no Jutsu!"

Ice started climbing up from the ground and coated the entire arena, turning it into an artic wasteland. Everything was coated in a thick layer of ice save for where the audience sat. Kitsune's eyes widened in surprise and pride. He watched as Haku melted into the layer of ice.

"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A hundred clones of the ice user were reflected in the ice. Suddenly thousands of ice senbon all went flying at Kitsune. No matter how many senbon he dodged and blocked, at least of hundred of them hit their mark. Kitsune fell down to one knee, trying to catch his breath and block out the pain. Suddenly all the Haku clones shot out of the ice and stabbed at Kitsune. All of them hit their mark and soon Kitsune fell to the ground and remained motionless. The crowd was in shock. They had just seen the infamous Kitsune downed.

An uneasy feeling settled in Haku's stomach as he looked at Kitsune's motionless body.

"Daton Shinjuuzanshu!"

Two hands suddenly wrapped around Haku's ankles and dragged him underground until only his head was showing. Normally he would have been able to escape easily but for some reason his entire body was paralyzed and his chakra unusable. In a poof of smoke, Kitsune appeared sitting cross legged in front of Haku eating a box of pocky.

"Yo!"

Haku sweat dropped as did most of the audience. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the Kitsune he had been fighting disappear in a cloud of smoke. The announcer announced Kitsune the winner.

"Why must you be so annoying? And where did you get that box of pocky from?" Haku asked in exasperation.

"For your first question, I like messing with people, its fun!" Kitsune said happily causing everyone to sweat drop again. "And for your second question, I had my summoning steal it from Tachi's secret stash and bring it to me!"

Haku paled. "You stole pocky from Tachi?"

"Yup!"

Haku sighed. "Your funeral"

Suddenly a dark cloud seemed to hover over the arena. In a burst of black flame a man with long black hair, dressed in a black cloak appeared.

"Kitsune no baka" the man growled.

Kitsune glanced up at him before being forced clutch his head in pain when the man smacked him upside the head.

"Ow! Itachi, you teme! Why did you do that?" Kitsune complained.

"Damn fox, give me back my pocky"

"Nope!" Kitsune said cheerfully then finished off the box of pocky.

Itachi and Kitsune started glaring at each other neither willing to back down.

"Um as much fun as it is to watch you two try and burn holes into each other's heads only by glaring could you please GET ME OUT OF HERE!!" Haku shouted.

Kitsune chuckled nervously then snapped his fingers causing Haku to shoot up from the hole and land safely on his fee. "Thank you" Haku said then walked back up to the stands and sat next to Zabuza who was still sweat dropping at what had just happened.

That apparently snapped the crowd out of their trance and soon shouts of confusion, fear, and anger sounded through the air.

"Uchiha Itachi?"

"Isn't he a missing nin?

"We're all going to die!" (wow someone's a wimp)

Tsunade took this time to teleport down to the arena and stalk over to Kitsune. "YOU BAKA" she smacked him upside the head. "NOW I HAVE TO EXPLAIN WHAT'S GOING ON SOONER THAN I WANTED TO!" she bellowed.

Kitsune proceeded to complain about how everyone was hitting him upside the head but closed his mouth at the glare Tsunade was giving him. That woman was a frightening force to be reckoned with.

Tsunade temporarily stopped glaring at Kitsune to look into the demanding eyes of the audience. They wanted an explanation and they wanted it now.

"Ok well I should explain what is going on shouldn't I? Well a couple days ago, Kitsune came to me and showed me a secret vault that the Sandaime had that contained all information on the Uchiha massacre. As it turns out, Itachi Uchiha was and always has been innocent of the crime." That earned gasps from the crowd and Sasuke went into a state of shock. "During the massacre, Itachi was on duty guarding the Yondaime's legacy." This earned even louder gasps. No one knew that the Yondaime had a legacy, not even his student, Kakashi, knew.

Kakashi now wanted to know who his sensei's legacy was when realization crashed down upon him. The golden hair, the blue eyes, the insane love for ramen. "OMG" he whispered as he fell to his knees. This caught the attention of all the shinobi around him and Tsunade as well.

"Well it seems as if Kakashi has finally realized who the legacy is. Yondaime's legacy and only child is our own Naruto Uzumaki." She announced.

"WHAT!! The demon boy is Yondaime's legacy?" a random person shouted. Obviously the villagers were in a state of disbelief.

"Of course. Do you think I would lie about something like this?" Tsunade bellowed. She was furious. Did they seriously think she would lie to them about something this important. "Yondaime wasn't willing to sacrifice another villager's child to serve as Kyuubi's prisoner so instead he used his own flesh and blood to act as the container for the fox. It was the most heart breaking experience to see in my entire life. Watching as someone I considered my son, give his life to seal a demon inside of his own child." Tsunade said. The crowd was completely silent. "He wanted Naruto to be recognized as a hero but you idiots only called him a demon. You abused him, tortured him, and put him down." She shouted out angrily. "He is the _only _thing keeping the Kyuubi from attacking again and you try to kill him!" Murmurs of denial could be heard from the Konoha villagers while those from other villagers looked disgusted at how they treated the blond. "Don't even try to deny it. I know of all 50 attempts on his life since he was 2 months old. Even many of the medic ninja tried to kill him while he was in the hospital. If it wasn't for Naruto holding me back I would have had all of you executed for treason and the attempted murder of one of Konoha's leader's son!"

During all of this, Kitsune had a gentle smile on his face. He stood up and turned to Tsunade who was breathing harshly as she tried to control her anger. "Tsunade-sama" he said in a gentle voice to get her attention. It worked and she turned to look at him. "You got off track. I do believe you were supposed to be informing them of the true happenings during the massacre." He informed her.

Tsunade colored slightly as she thought of how she had just went on a rant but nodded her head anyway. "Well anyway, Itachi was guarding Naruto while the massacre occurred. It was later found out that someone had henged into Itachi then committed the massacre. Itachi was falsely accused of the murders so the Sandaime decided to use this to his advantage. He told Itachi to go undercover as a missing nin to investigate the Akatsuki organization. Akatsuki's leader is the same man who committed the Uchiha massacre. Unfortunately, his position was compromised and he had to draw back from his mission and return back. He reported all his findings to me and has been reinstated as a shinobi of Konoha. If you have any other questions DO NOT HARASS ME! Ask Kitsune or Itachi himself." She said and then teleported back into the Kages' box.

Kitsune's gaze lingered on the crowd for a second longer before returning to Itachi. The former missing nin was eating pocky from a large box. "Well now that that is over let's start the next match." He said, addressing the announcer who nodded dumbly and called out for Sasuke and Neji to come down to the ring. Kitsune teleported back up to the stands and sat down next too Haku. Itachi followed his example and sat down next to the fox assassin, still munching on his box of pocky.

-------

Neji Hyuuga vs Sasuke Uchiha

Sasuke, miraculously, was not as upset over the whole Itachi being innocent thing as one would think he should be. Actually he sort of blamed himself for not thinking about the possibility of someone henging into Itachi earlier. Now that he thought about it, Itachi had always been too lazy and focused on pocky to actually kill off his clan. The only thing bothering him was how Itachi gained the Mengenkyo but he would interrogate his brother later and focus on the fight at hand.

"BEGIN!"

Both boys stared each other down, trying to assess the other's strengths and weaknesses. Apparently, neither was willing to throw the first punch.

Kitsune was getting bored and fast. "GOD DAMMIT! ONE OF YOU MOVE YOU IDIOTS!!" he finally shouted after eight minutes.

Both of the fighters looked up at him with weird looks before Sasuke finally took the initiative and threw a fireball at Neji. The Hyuuga dodged and sent a wall of rock tumbling down on Sasuke who at the last second dodged and started throwing more fireballs at Neji.

"Maguma Heimen no Jutsu!"

The earth around Sasuke started to melt leaving only two chunks of solid land, one that Sasuke was standing on and the one Neji was on.

Neji quickly recovered from his shock and used the magma to his advantage and sent flaming boulders at the his opponent.

Sasuke dodged most of the flaming rocks but a few nicked him in the side. Needing to end this quickly, Sasuke sped through a complicated series of hand seals while gathering as much chakra as he could. Neji saw this build up and tried to attack and stop it but it was too late.

"Funkazan Funka no Jutsu!"

Huge blasts of magma erupted from the ground underneath and all around Neji. The magma hit Neji, giving him severe burns and effectively knocking him unconscious from the overload of pain.

"Winner Sasuke Uchiha!"

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Definitions: (jutsu technically means art but I'm pretty sure they dub it technique in English)

Koori Arano no Jutsu—Ice Wasteland Technique

Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu—Water Clone Technique

Daton Shinjuuzanshu—Earth Style: Head Hunter Technique (I think)

Maguma Heimen no Jutsu—Magma Plane Technique

Funkazan Funka no Jutsu —Volcano Eruption Technique

* * *

Kitty: Now that that is over here are some notes! Somebody had asked me if Gaara still had his demon in him. NO HE DOES NOT!!! Just like in the manga, Gaara does have his demon removed and does die but Kitsune and the lady who originally sealed Shukaku in him revived him. He can still use sand. Also, some people are wondering how Naruto and Gaara's relationship is moving along so fast, well after reviving Gaara, Kitsune revealed his identity to him and they became friends. Naruto spent some time in Suna with Gaara and during that time they developed feelings for each other but both were unwilling to express it so they hid it until that wonderfully cheesy fluffy moment you read earlier in the story.

Naruto: Well she hopes you understand now and if you have any other questions just ask her in a review or PM her.

Kitty: Yup and I'm seriously sorry about the long wait. This huge writer's block decided to attack me. So once I 'overcame' that I wrote the story then updated!!!

Naruto: she means she locked the evil writer's block in the closet then updated

Kitty: Yup .

Naruto: Ignore her. Please review!


	8. Chapter 7

Kitty: YAY I'M UPDATING EARLIER THAN EXPECTED!!!

Naruto: YAY!!

Kitty: I had a three hour early dismissal so it allowed me to updater a hell of a lot sooner than I was going to

Naruto: Yup but after this chapter there is going to be at least a two week wait for the next chapter cause she is going to be working on her Mengetsu no Kitsune fanfiction before working on the next chapter. When the chapters come out is all up to whether or not she gets writer's block

Kitty: Yup. Anyway now onto the chapter!

* * *

"The final match is about to begin. Will Sasuke Uchiha and Kitsune please come down to the arena."

Everyone was on the edges of their seat. This was the most anticipated match. From the rumors about Kitsune, they had known he was a shoe-in for the final match and because one of the surviving Uchihas was to be his opponent, everyone knew this was a match not to miss. Apparently everyone knew this because the stadium was packed to its max with spectators and there were still many others trying to jam their way inside.

"Begin!"

A hush fell over the crowd as everybody waited with bated breath for the two fighters to begin the match.

The two stared each other down, gauging the other's prowess. An unheard signal seemed to go off as both fighters disappeared at the same time. Blurs of black and dark blue dashed across the field. Only the most experienced Jounins could even process the fight.

So far the two were sticking with taijutsu. Sasuke's moves emphasized speed and power, using quick jabs and kicks, while Kitsune's were fast and seemed to flow from one movement to another with the grace of water all while staying on the defensive. The assassin would wait till the last second then swerve his body out of the way and follow up quickly with a counter attack while blocking another attack that was coming in. The fox assassin's fighting seemed to almost be a dance instead of the fluid and speedy dodges and counterattacks it was composed of. The grace and flawlessness of his movements had Gai and Lee in tears and spouting out non-sense about the beauty and youthfulness of his style.

The fight continued with the two on equal grounds, neither seemed to be tiring or gaining the upper hand on the other. Punches and kicks flew at each other yet they were always dodged or blocked so neither had landed a solid blow as of yet.

Kitsune suddenly surprised Sasuke by breaking out of his defensive taijutsu and slipped into an offensive jutsu that moved with the speed and unpredictability of lightening. Using attacks that the blunet could barely keep up with, Kitsune distracted Sasuke then grabbed the other's arm and threw him at the stadium wall.

Sasuke retaliated against the attack by twisting his body around and used the wall to propel himself back at Kitsune. Using the extra inertia, Sasuke started throwing a flurry of punches at his cloaked opponent before throwing him at the wall like Kitsune had done to him earlier.

"Katon: Soudai Hidama no Jutsu"

An enormous ball of fire flew at Kitsune who had just rebounded off the wall.

Kitsune charged his hands with chakra and cut though the flames only to find that Sasuke had followed behind the blast and had a chakra charged punch waiting for him. Unable to dodge, the hit impacted his mask and cracked it. When he impacted the ground, dirt flew up, creating a dense cloud of dust that blocked everyone's flew of Kitsune. After a second or two it seemed Kitsune had recovered because an amused chuckle echoed through the stadium, its source was within the dust cloud

"It seems everyone will now know my identity a bit earlier than expected." Kitsune's voice penetrated through the cloud. "Originally I was going to reveal myself after this match but I guess I no longer have a choice considering you've destroyed my mask.

A blast of wind dispersed the dust cloud revealing Kitsune with his hood off and a cracked mask. Everyone could now see his golden locks.

_Guess he got them trimmed._ Tsunade briefly thought as she watched. Kitsune had apparently gotten his hair trimmed and she suddenly recognized the style as that of the Yondaime's. _Can't wait to see their reactions when they see his face and how much he looks like his father._ An evil smirk settled on her features. This was going to be amusing.

Time seemed to stop as the mask slowly chipped away and fell pieces to the ground revealing bright blue eyes, a lightly tanned face, and six distinct whisker marks.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked in a strangled voice.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Duh! Who else do you know that has blond hair and whisker marks? Aren't you supposed to be a genius or something?" he asked sarcastically.

A vein bulged on Sasuke's forehead. "Dobe" he said from between clenched teeth.

Now it was Naruto's turn to gain a tick mark on his head. "Teme" he growled out.

Sasuke smirked and slid into a ready position. "Why don't we finish this?"

Naruto shrugged and smirked. He bit his thumb and rubbed the blood on his open palm. "Sure. I'll also show you exactly why they call me Kitsune" Naruto slammed his hand to the ground. "Kitsune Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

An explosion of fire engulfed Naruto and formed a dense cloud of smoke once again concealing Naruto within its depths. A vicious hiss sounded through the stadium and a giant red paw shot out of the smoke. The rest of the smoke was whipped away by nine long red tails. The crowd watched, frozen to the seats in fear and wonder as they saw the Kyuubi emerge from the smoke with Naruto on its head.

"Kyuubi, Nine-Tailed Inferno!" Naruto called out from on top of the foxes head.

All nine of Kyuubi's tails lit up with flames that seemed to light up the entire stadium. Without warning, the Kyuubi lashed out towards Sasuke with its tails, sending the flames flying at Sasuke. The Uchiha stood there and braced for impact for the attack was much to large to dodge. When the attack hit he was flung back against the arena's wall and knocked unconscious with severe burns covering his body.

The announcer stared at the fallen Uchiha in shock before clearing his throat. "Winner….uh Kitsune!"

Nobody clapped, still frozen to their seats in terror at the site of the Kyuubi who was now curling up in a ball. Naruto leapt off of Kyuubi's head and walked over to Sasuke and started using healing jutsus on the burns and bruises. When he finished he stood up and was about to go back over to Kyuubi when a loud voice penetrated the silence.

"GAKI!!"

Naruto froze in fear before turning slowly to face Tsunade who had trudged down to him and now looked ready to strangle him. Discretely he searched for an escape but found none.

"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU COULD SUMMON KYUUBI YOU GAKI?" Tsunade roared in rage and started chasing him around the area.

"Kyuubi-nii-san told me not to tell you because he wanted it to be a surprise" he shouted as he ran around searching for a safe heaven. He spotted Gaara walking down the steps of the bleaters and ran behind him. "Hide me!" he pleaded as he hid behind the red head.

Gaara sighed and side stepped as Tsunade readied a chakra packed punch at where Naruto's head was. Just as the punch was about to land, a long red tail grabbed Naruto out of harms way and carried him over to Kyuubi.

"Thanks Kyuubi-nii-san" Naruto said happily then turned to look at Gaara. A pout appeared in his face. "Traitor" he mumbled. Gaara merely smirked while looking behind Naruto. Naruto turned around and paled when he saw the entire Rookie 9, Neji, Lee, Tenten, and their senseis glaring at him in a demanding manner. "Umm….hi?" he said meekly.

Sakura and Ino didn't say a word as they bopped the blond on his head and started dragging him out of the arena. The rest of the group followed after along with Gaara and Tsunade not far behind.

Naruto was finally released from their death-grip only to be handcuffed around his wrists and ankles and tied to a chair. He sweat dropped at all the precautions they used. It wasn't like he was going to run away or anything but now that they had done this he was starting to contemplate it while questioning their sanity.

Everyone took a chair and sat around him in a circle looking very stern.

"Talk now" Sakura said sternly.

"Uh…about what?"

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!" she roared, nearly blowing Naruto over with the sheer force of her yell.

"All over the place." He answered vaguely.

Sakura gained a tick mark on her head and she started cracking her knuckles in a threatening manner. "You will give us the details of exactly where and what you have been doing while you were gone or else I'll resort to my method of extracting information" she threatened with a malicious grin on her face.

Naruto gulped and nodded. "Alright, alright I'll tell you everything OK?" he relented.

The group scooted closer, ready to hear his story. Naruto took a deep breath and began his tale of what he had done while away.

* * *

Kitty: O.O well I can see it now. My email account will be full of death threats thanks to that cliff hanger. (continues to eat banana while thinking up ways to avoid her emanate doom)

Naruto: (nods) yup your toast

Kitty: Well….anyway, the next couple of chapters will tell about Naruto's adventures while he was away and will also help you understand his relationship with Gaara and how he befriended Kyuubi and met up with Itachi.

Naruto: so please review and if you want to read more stories don't actually kill her just threaten her

Kitty: gee thanks. Your support for me is wonderful

Naruto: You're welcome!


	9. Chapter 8

Kitty: (on knees) I'm SOO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!! I had trouble with this writer's block that decided to attack my brain. Finally I've been able to kill it…I mean defeat it but it still took a while.

Naruto: Also she would like to say that the **next few chapters will all be one big flashback about what happened right after Naruto was banished.**

Kitty: (puts on armor) so there will be no GaaraNaru fluff for a while (gets hit by Ramen bowl) wut (stares incredulously at Naruto) you threw ramen at me?

Naruto: (huffs and turns away emphasizing his point of ignoring her)

Kitty: wow….Naruto was actually willing to throw his ramen at me…his precious ramen. (shakes head) anyway back on track. I do understand that you all seriously want GaaNaru fluff so I've decided I'll write a little side story that I'll post as a chapter so you can get your dosage of GaaNaru fluff and so you won't have the overwhelming desire to kill me.

Naruto: good. She would also like to point out that Kyuubi is a boy. She accidentally put Kyuubi-nee instead of Kyuubi-nii and she apologizes. As soon as her brain starts to function again she'll fix that.

Kitty: Yup sorry. Now onto the story!

* * *

(A/N: this is what happened right after Naruto was banished from the village so it's like an extended flashback. When this extended flashback is over I will inform you so until then it's all the past)

Slowly the sky lightens up with magnificent hues of purple and red, slowly eating away at the inky blackness that, until then, had coated the entire sky in its silent embrace. Morning dew shone brightly in the sun's morning light and dripped off the leaves like crystal tears. A single drop fell off a leaf and splashed up the nose of a slumbering blond.

Eyes that seemed to contain the vast expanse of the sky slowly blinked open, adjusting to the change in light. A silent yawn escaped his mouth as Naruto sat up and stretched out his stiff muscles. Glancing around he tried to remember why he was sleeping outside. When the memories of the day before came rushing back his eyes dulled with sadness and seemed to loose their former spark of laughter and turned into lifeless pools of sapphire. Without a sound, Naruto stood up and started walking towards a destination he had decided upon the night before.

At mid-day he paused in his journey to hunt down something to eat. He spotted a lake and stopped there to drink. While gazing into the crystal clear depths of the water he became lost in thought.

While deep in thought, his scenery changed without him noticing. When he snapped out of his daze he was surprised to find himself in a sewer like room with a huge set of gates in front of him. Without having to wait long, soon a large red fox presented itself on the other side of the gate. Naruto waited patiently for the fox to talk.

"Naruto Kazama, I brought you here to make a deal" the fox stated with authority.

"Kazama? That's not my last name" Naruto protested.

Kyuubi chuckled in a way that meant he knew something Naruto didn't. "Actually it is. I know who your father is and why his identity was hidden from you"

Naruto looked at the fox in shock. "Could you tell me his identity? Please?" he asked in an excited voice. He really wanted to know who his parents were and although he wouldn't find out his mother's identity he would at least find out his father's. That was good enough for him, for now.

"Sure, why not? Your father's identity was never revealed to you because of the numerous enemies he made during his time as a shinobi and as the Yondaime Hokage" Kyuubi told him.

Once again Naruto was in a state of shock. This was happening quite a bit. He absently thought that somebody must find amusement in him going into states of shock. Anyway back to what had put him into his state. His father was the Yondaime? The man who had given his life to protect the village? The very man to seal the Kyuubi inside of him? He honestly had no idea how to react. Sure he was happy that he now knew who his father was, pride that his father was the great Yondaime, but sorrow that he never met him and slight anger that it was his own father who had cursed him to a life of sorrow and hate.

"Why me?"

It was a simple question yet the way it was said made the Kyuubi sigh. What the boy had gone through was simply horrible. The villagers treated him like a demon yet he wasn't one. "You were the only newborn at the time and if I was sealed into anyone older than a newborn, my container would not have been able to adapt to my chakra and would have died. Your father didn't want anymore people to die so he chose you even though he didn't want to" Kyuubi answered, hopefully this would help settle the boy's raging emotions even if it was a just a bit.

Naruto was silent for a while. All that information was a lot to take in. When he finally spoke again it was yet another question.

"So why did you bring me here?" he asked simply.

Kyuubi laid down on his stomach so he would be closer to Naruto's level. "I have a proposition for you. Now I want you to listen to the entire deal before commenting, OK?" When Naruto nodded he took it as a sign to continue. "I want you to release me from the seal." Kyuubi waited for the outburst that was sure to come but was pleasantly surprised when it didn't. He looked at Naruto and found the blond with a questioning look on his face. "When I'm released I will not be returning to your plain of existence. I will instead be going to the world of summonings. I am considered the boss of all demonic and non-demonic fox summonings. I'll let you sign the fox summoning contract in exchange for releasing me from this seal and summoning me every once in a while to stretch my legs and to train you. Also, when I am free, half of my chakra will be left behind for you to use at your own will. While I'm in the summons world I'll be able to regain that chakra quickly." Kyuubi told him.

Naruto thought about the deal. If it worked out the way Kyuubi had just explained it, then he would gain a lot of power and would be able to summon the most powerful summoning. But if for some reason the Kyuubi decided to escape, then he would definitely be screwed. No doubt about it.

Kyuubi saw the doubt and sighed. "I know I've given you no reason to trust me so whether or not you go with this deal is up to you." He told Naruto.

Naruto nodded and went back to weighing his options. After a while he finally made up his mind. "Alright I'll release you and agree to your terms but I will choose where we go" he stated. At Kyuubi's nod he reached up and tore off the seal. The gates swung open and Naruto fell back at the huge amount of demonic energy that escaped. Kyuubi slowly stood up and walked out of the cage.

"Alright Kit, I'll be in the summons world so once you've found a place to stay in Wave, summon me and we'll start your training" Kyuubi told him before fading out of view.

Naruto left his mind and took one last look at the lake before looking up to the sky. From the position of the sun he could tell it was around noon. He had around 8 hours before he would have to stop and rest for the night so he might as well make the most of his time. He pulled on the new chakra he received and took off at a blinding speed towards the land of Waves.

* * *

Kitty: I'm sorry if this chapter seems short but I wanted to get it out as soon as I could. The next chapter will be longer because I know what I'm going to write for it! YAY!!

Naruto: _**NOTICE!!!** _she needs ideas for the short side story that will have GaaraNaru fluff in it. It must follow this story line but if you want you can give me suggestions!!! For example, if you want Naruto and Gaara to make out right in the open then go ahead and suggest it, she will however keep it too fluff only. She cannot write lemons even if her life depended on it. Maybe one day she'll try but seriously, she's only willing to write as far as heavy making out and that's it.

Kitty: Yup. Now I'll update as soon as I finish updating my other Naruto story so see ya all later!


	10. Chapter 9

Kitty: OK so who's ready to kill me for being so late for the update? (ducks to avoid kunai thrown at her) O.o uh-oh (runs away with Gaara chasing after her)

Naruto: Anyway since Kitty is unable to finish the author notes I will. She is very sorry about the update taking so long and she begs your forgiveness and she wants you to read the notice she left behind for you.

**NOTICE:** I've encountered a serious problem. I cannot figure out exactly what to do for the plot of the story so I will be taking suggestions but from past experiences I tend to just need to take a break from a story and start a new one then I'll get more ideas for my older stories, but right now I feel as if I'm forcing myself to write the updates which in turn will cause my writing to suck so I decided that a longer wait for you guys is better than a sucky chapter.

Naruto: As you have read she has stumbled upon a sort of writer's block…again, but this one is much worse than any other she's had before and unfortunately it is only for this fic. Anyway now onto the story!

* * *

It was about noon when he arrived at the land of Waves, or more specifically, the bridge where his team fought and eventually killed Zabuza and Haku. The thought made his eyes glaze over as memories of that day came rushing back. Shaking his head, Naruto snapped out of his daze and looked around. The town was at least ten times larger than when he had left it. The bridge his team had fought so hard to protect was standing proudly, allowing people easy access to the town. He walked over to the plaque and was shocked at what he saw. The plaque said the name of the bridge was The Great Naruto Bridge. Holy fricken shit. They actually named the bridge after him. They even had a picture of him and his team with a label at the bottom saying who was who.

Suddenly a loud cheer sounded from behind him and he was tackled by somebody. "Naruto-nii you're back!" the lump on his back shouted loudly.

After turning his head slightly to see who was on his back, Naruto smiled. "Hey Inari! How have you been?" he asked the boy who was now piggy-backing on his back.

"I've been good. Hey why are you here and where's your team?" Inari asked.

Naruto's eyes dimmed for a moment before lighting back up again with fake cheerfulness. "I think we should find your mom and Tazuna first. That way I'll only have to tell the story once." He told Inari.

The boy immediately jumped off Naruto's back, grabbed his hand, and started dragging the blond somewhere. "Well come on, our house is this way" he said.

Naruto watched in amusement as he let Inari drag him through the village. Much to his surprise, many people he passed smiled and waved at him. Some even bowed in respect causing a true smile to stretch across his face.

When they arrived at Inari's house, Naruto was happy to note it was larger than before. Not mansion size but large enough for a family of about ten to live in comfortably. As soon as Inari opened the front door to his house a wonderful smell flooded Naruto's senses. He could only label the scent as Tsunami's wonderful cooking. Both boys seemed to levitate towards the source of the smell.

Tsunami was in the kitchen and welcomed Inari home. When her eyes locked onto Naruto's she squealed in delight before running up to him and pinching his cheeks in a motherly fashion.

"You've gotten so big Naruto" she noted happily before giving him a welcoming hug. "How have you been?" she asked before glancing around. "And where's the rest of your team."

Naruto looked down at the ground causing Tsunami to gasp in horror. "Are they alright? Did something happen?" she asked hurriedly.

Naruto shook his head. "No, they're both fine and so is Kakashi-sensei, but something did happen. I would tell you now but I only want to have to tell my story once. So would you mind if I wait until Tazuna is here?" he asked in an unusually quiet voice.

Tsunami, sensing it was a delicate subject, nodded and, after giving Naruto another gentle hug, went back to cooking dinner. "Naruto, Inari. Go get washed up for dinner" she told them, indirectly inviting Naruto to dine with them.

Inari nodded at his mother and dragged Naruto to the bathroom to wash up.

When the two boys returned, Tazuna was at the table, waiting for dinner to be served. He smiled and greeted Naruto but didn't ask about team 7 leading Naruto to assume Tsunami told him not to bring it up.

Dinner went peacefully. Discussions of the past and present came into their conversations but the subject of Naruto's current situation was carefully avoidd.

Soon dinner ended and Naruto and Tazuna's family were seated in the living room with a fire crackling in the room. A solemn feeling hung heavy in the air.

Tsunami looked worried. Whatever had happened to the blond had obviously hit him hard. The once bouncing bundle of joy was solemn and depressed and quiet.

Well you guys are obviously wondering why I'm here without my team so I'll tell you but first you need to know something about me that I kept hidden for a couple year" a sight escaped his mouth as he mentally prepared himself for possible rejection. "You guys have heard of the Kyuubi attack that happened in Konoha right?" The three nodded. Almost everyone had heard of that tragedy through stories told by traveling villagers. "Well the end of the tragedy was tweaked a bit. There is no way to kill a demon as powerful as the Kyuubi unless you were a demon of equal or greater power" Surprised and slightly fearful looks crossed the family's faces. "But don't worry, Kyuubi was defeated just not killed. Instead he was sealed inside the only child born the day of the attack, me." I'm the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune" He put his head down, not wanting to see their reactions. "Recently Sasuke betrayed our village and left to become the apprentice of the S-Class missing nin, Orochimaru. After a huge fight I dragged him back but during the fight I had to draw on Kyuubi's chakra. Later, Orochimaru tried to take Sasuke back by force but failed. Unfortunately our Hokage was knocked unconscious and had sever chakra depletion. The council used her absence to their advantage and used that chance to banish me from the village. My friends tried to defend my case but the council was firm in their decision."

Unknown to Naruto, all of the anxious looks turned into looks of worry and sympathy. Without giving any warning, Tsunami stood up and wrapped Naruto in a warm embrace.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. You can stay here as long as you like" she told him in a motherly voice.

When he was released from the hug Naruto smiled at them. "Thank you"

* * *

Kitty: yes I know it was short but as stated in the author notes at the beginning of the chapter, I have serious writer's block. I am currently taking ideas, small or large, it doesn't matter. I will incorporate most of them probably.

Naruto: now please review and help her get rid of her writer's block

Gaara: (tied to chair and gagged) mmmph (glaring at Kitty)

Kitty: I said I was sorry but you wouldn't stop trying to kill me

Naruto: -.-;; wutever


	11. Author Note

I'm sorry for the severe lack in updates of my stories but my computer has officially died. I'm actually posting this note from my sister's computer. The chapters that I was working on were on that computer but fortunately most of the chapters I had written down on paper. I will update as soon as I get a new computer which will not be too much longer, maybe about a week or two. I'm sorry for the long wait.

**DO NOT REVIEW TO THIS. IF YOU HAVE A COMMENT THEN PM ME BUT DO NOT REVIEW FOR I WILL POST THE NEXT CHAPTER OVER TOP OF THIS.**


	12. Chapter 10

Kitty: So ya'll are ready to kill me aren't you. Well I told you my computer died and it took me a while to get all the stuff back on it so I'm sorry for the delay.

Naruto: But she's got the next chapter up and she promises she won't take as long next time (sends evil glare at Kitty)

Kitty: uh sure. I would never make my readers wait longer than necessary. (insert shifty eyes)

Naruto: (still glaring) just get on with it

Kitty: Fine! Oh and sorry but the chapter is a bit short but i promise the next one will be longer.

* * *

It had been only six months since he arrived in wave yet according to Kyuubi, he had improved exponentially. Over the six months Kyuubi had put gravity seals on each of his limbs and forced him through rigorous training schedules. Currently his weights were at 100 lbs. each which came out to a total of 400 extra pounds of weight on his body. Normally that extra weight would cause Naruto to create holes in the ground every time he took a step or crush anything he sat on, but thanks to the special design Kyuubi used, nothing except his muscles was affected by the extra pounds. He had learned ninjitsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu quite quickly and now all that was left was kenjutsu and seals.

"Ne, ne Kyuubi-san, what are we going to be learning today?" Naruto asked. His normal loud tone of voice had mellowed thanks to the Kyuubi.

The fox demon was in his human form as he always was when he trained Naruto. Long blood red hair was tied up loosely at the nape of his neck and his eyes were a glossy gold. His outfit was a simple black sleeveless top with comfortable black pants.

"Well we're not going to be upping your weights for a while because you're going to be learning medical jutsus and I want to minimize the chances of a mistake happening." Was the answer he received.

Naruto grinned at the prospect before frowning. A thoughtful look crossed his face before it turned into one of shock. "Oh no! I forgot that today is the anniversary of Haku's and Zabuza's deaths. I need to go visit their graves." Without another word he shot off in the direction of the two graves.

Kyuubi sighed and shook his head. Some things just wouldn't change but maybe that was for the best. With a quick glance around he shifted into the form of a two tailed fox and sprinted after the blond. When he finally caught up, Naruto was already at the graves and was kneeling before them.

With a sigh Naruto lit the two incenses he had bought and placed them on the graves. "I wish you guys were still here. I really do think we could have been friends if things had gone differently." He was upset. This was the second time he had visited their grave since he came here. The first time was only one day after he had arrived and was before he had summoned Kyuubi for the first time.

Kyuubi walked up to Naruto and sat down next to him. He nuzzled Naruto's arm in comfort before freezing.

Naruto looked down at Kyuubi when he suddenly stopped moving. He watched in confusion as the fox sniffed the air around them before sniffing at the two graves.

"Kit help me dig these two out, they're still alive!"

Naruto was shocked but none the less, immediately started digging the two from their graves. To his amazement, their wounds were completely healed except for a few cuts and bruises yet there was no breath coming from their mouths.

"How are they alive?"

Kyuubi looked up at Naruto. "Their bodies are feeding off their chakra. Fortunately these two have large chakra reserves or they wouldn't have lived this long."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "Ok but how do we wake them up?"

"First we need to heal their wounds so that none of their remaining chakra is used up trying to heal them." Naruto nodded and placed his hands on Haku's chest. "Great, now focus on mending their wounds and slowly stream your chakra into them and focus it around their wounds."

Soon a green glow emitted from Naruto's hands and slowly the wounds closed up and vanished one by one. As soon as he was done with Haku he did the same for Zabuza.

"Now this time place your index finger and middle finger on their foreheads." Once Naruto did so he nodded. "Good now this time I want you to send a small jolt of your chakra to their brains. Sort of how lightening jumps across the clouds except think of the clouds as your fingers and their brain and only use a very small amount of chakra."

Closing his eyes, Naruto focused solely on his job and quickly sent a small jolt of chakra into Haku's brain. The brunet's body suddenly jerked and soon his chest started moving up and down. Naruto moved over to Zabuza and did the same thing. Soon both mist ninja's were peacefully sleeping, much unlike the catatonic state there were in mere minutes ago.

Giving the two unconscious persons a smile, Naruto created a bunshin and with its help, carried both Haku and Zabuza back to Tazuna's house. When he got there he gave the family a brief explanation as to why he was carrying their former enemies' bodies into the house and then put the two onto beds.

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Kitty: Sorry its so short but my brain went caput over the summer. But I think now I'll be able to update more often but the problem is I have like six other story ideas in my mind that I'm planning on starting. 

Naruto: scatter brain

Kitty: so? Well anyway sorry for taking so long, don't kill me and please review. I SWEAR THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE LONGER!!!!!


	13. Author Note: In Need of Help

PLEASE READ!!

Dear My Lovely Readers,

I know for a fact that over half of you are probably mentally yelling death threats at me for taking so long to update, but I have a huge problem. For the life of me I cannot figure out where this story is going! I'm completely stuck. It doesn't help that I can hardly stand the Naruto Anime anymore because they killed off my favorite character. (Won't say who because that would be a spoiler.) But like I said, I need help. I have a huge writer's block and I need ideas for the story. So please PM or review to author's note with ideas for the fanfiction. I need events, fluff moments, and an ending….wow…just realized I had no idea how I was going to end the story.

So despite how much you must hate me for taking so long, I beg you all for help. (gets on knees) Pwease for the love of all that is yaoi and Naruto, help me!! There is also the option of me rewriting it. It will be different yet have the same basic plotline and hopefully better writing style.

Love,

Kitty Nekkyo (frogger666)

PS:

Remember, the story is currently in an extended flash back...


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